The mobile phones of the future may not be anything like the phones of today, and one of the biggest differences may be the elimination of mechanical keys. A next generation mobile phone concept by Synaptics (a mobile interface developer) and Pilotfish (an industrial design firm) does just that.

The phone, called the Onyx, uses Synaptics' ClearPad in the place of keys. The ClearPad is a touchscreen solution that is–surprise!–optically clear. The touchscreen detects not only points and taps but proximity, gestures, and shapes as well.

The Onyx looks like something you'd see in “Star Trek” or some other kind of Sci-Fi show, yet it is technically possible and may open the mind of many OEMs to produce cellphones that push the envelope far beyond the models of today. Plus it's just cool looking.

DejaVu(10:58am EST Tue Aug 22 2006)Looks like a PDA phone without a keypad & extra buttons. (Take any QVGA phone and drop the keyboard, and you are 90% there.) This is concept that could have been implemented years ago. - by Will